Filipe Toledo, Caroline Marks with the lifts up the beach. Photos: WSL
Well, whatever gripes Filipe Toledo may have had about the Surf Ranch Pro judging were put to bed today with his win at the El Salvador Pro. The 29-year-old Brazilian defeated Griffin Colapinto (who remains in the yellow jersey) in the final with a combo effort, avenging his loss to Colapinto there last year.
You may recall last week, Toledo made headlines with his, Gabriel Medina’s, and Italo Ferreira’s complaints on social media about the Surf Ranch officiating. The reverberation got so intense that the World Surf League released a statement with regards to the blowback. We’ve heard nary a peep regarding a ruling on suspensions or fines from the WSL since, but to his credit, Toledo looked intent on letting his surfing do the talking throughout the week in El Salvador as he battled through a back injury that apparently required treatment.
“Believe it or not, it wasn’t painful to surf but it was so painful to walk and then paddle whenever I had to arch my back,” he said after. “I just thank God and the WSL and the doctors here, you know, they did a really good job of taking care of me. They gave me some medicine to help me out with the pain.” It was the first time Toledo had mentioned the WSL since the Surf Ranch controversy.
Drop something? Photo:Beatriz Ryder//WSL
Caroline Marks’ win over surging Tyler Wright was huge given the context of her career recently. Marks set out the first part of 2022, releasing a statement that she needed “to take time away from the CT to deal with some recurring medical and health issues,” ahead of the Sunset Pro. She spent the rest of 2022 and 2023 on Tour really getting herself right. She looked right in El Salvador and the Surf Ranch in 2023. She referenced that time away from tour after her win Friday.
“I haven’t won since 2021,” she said in the water. “This really was my first years back after coming out of one of the hardest times of my life. I’m really stoked.”
Something tells me we’re going to hear more about Marks’ time away from tour – which I hadn’t heard her reference until now – if she continues to have success down the stretch of the season. Oh yeah, and she’s still only 21 despite the fact it feels like she’s a grizzled tour veteran.
All four finalists have surfed so consistently well of late (that’s two finals appearances in a row for Colapinto and Marks), seemingly focused on solidifying their spots for Trestles in September. Griffin and Filipe are one-two in the men’s rankings, followed by Joao Chianca, Ethan Ewing, and Gabriel Medina. Griffin, for his part, is still set up to win a world title his way: both in overall rankings and at the Final in San Clemente in September.
That Marksian backhand, though. Photo: Aaron Hughes// World Surf League
“I would really like to finish the regular season at number one because that’s originally how you won the world title,” he told me in Lemoore. “Then go to the Final Five and win that too. The original way doesn’t get much hype but I really want to do that for myself. Just being consistent a whole year is so difficult.”
On the women’s side, Carissa Moore, a semi-finalist in El Salvador, still holds the yellow jersey. Tyler Wright and Caroline Marks are 2-3, followed by Molly Picklum in fourth. Caity Simmers has been bumped out of the top five, replaced with a tie between Steph Gilmore and Tatiana Weston-Webb. Gilmore is making that same sneaky move into the Finals rankings she did last year before winning a world title at Trestles.
In truth, the WSL seemed a bit snake bitten by waves in El Salvador. Punta Roca wasn’t its rifling, barreling self. There were moments of beauty, with clean head-high walls, but even on the cleanest days with good conditions, the swell was inconsistent and lully. Still Punta Roca provided just enough to get the job done. The Tour now moves to Brazil June 23 through July 1.
